CICAD Executive Secretariat finds renovation of leadership within its own ranks

During his remarks at the 41st regular session of CICAD in May, OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza announced the appointment of Rafael Franzini-Batlle as CICAD’s Assistant Executive Secretary. Before his new posting, Franzini-Batlle had been serving as the chief of CICAD's Anti-Money Laundering Section since its creation in late 1999. Franzini-Batlle originally came to the OAS as an intern in 1995 and joined the OAS staff in November 1996, working in CICAD’s Legal Development Unit. He studied law at Uruguay’s University of the Republic, and obtained a Master’s of Public Administration at American University in Washington D.C. Aside from his 11 years experience dealing on drug issues, he worked extensively as a journalist and lawyer before joining the OAS.

CICAD’s Assistant  Executive Secretary Abraham Stein was appointed to the post of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multidimensional Security. At the May CICAD meeting, many delegates praised Mr. Stein’s contributions to the organization over the past four years. Mr. Stein joined CICAD in January 2003 as the Deputy Executive Secretary after working as the representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for Mexico and Central America

Since CICAD, along with the Inter-American Committee against Terrorism (CICTE) and the Department of Public Security, falls under the purvey of the Secretariat of Multidimensional Security (SMS), Stein will remain engaged in CICAD program activities and continue to serve as an advocate for CICAD in the OAS.  Ambassador Alexandre Addor-Neto, a senior Brazilian career diplomat, became the first SMS Assistant Secretary in January.

CICAD's Money Laundering Control Section will be coordinated by Jorge Yumi, a Peruvian lawyer with expertise in commercial and criminal procedures. He began in CICAD in 2004 as an intern. He joined the OAS staff in March 2005, working in  CICAD's Legal Development Unit. Yumi received his law degree from the University of Lima (Peru) where he also pursued graduate studies in corporate law. He has just completed a Master's of Law in the international legal studies program at American University in Washington, DC.

In addition, CICAD's Institutional Strengthening Section, which works closely with the member states' national drug commissions, will be led by Javier Sagredo. For the past four years, Sagredo has been working on CICAD's Spanish government-funded program to decentralize drug policies to local governments in the Andean region. A Spanish citizen with professional experience in international private consulting, local government and higher education, he joined the OAS in 1999. Sagredo has a law degree (University of Salamanca, Spain and University College Galway, Ireland), a Master's degree on European integration (Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium) and a diploma in Local Development and Decentralization (Alberto Hurtado University, Chile). The Institutional Strengthening Section had been coordinated by Stein.